Coyote Gulch

 



















































































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  Monday, June 16, 2008


Religion and politics

Here's some video of U.S. Senator Barack Obama's Father's Day sermon, from Effect Measure. We were struck by his ideas about democracy and pluralism.

"2008 pres"
8:42:13 AM     


War on terror

Juan Cole: "Tom Lasseter of McClatchy reports that the news service has done extensive interviewing with 66 prisoners released from Guantanamo and found that most were either innocent or were lower level Taliban foot soldiers with no ties to international terrorism. McClatchy argues that the prisoners were routinely abused even after it became clear that they had no intelligence value. Some were radicalized by being tortured by the US, so that when they were released as innocent, they turned to attacking US interests."

"2008 pres"
8:31:05 AM     


60th Annual FibArk Boat Race
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Here's a recap of the 60th Annual FibArk Boat Race, from The Pueblo Chieftain. From the article:

Roiling runoff in the Arkansas River made for the fastest finish this century in the FIBArk 26-mile downriver race Sunday. FIBArk organizers celebrated the 60th anniversary of the prestigious boating contest which brings avid boaters to Salida for a four-day event as varied as the river itself. The crown jewel which culminates FIBArk is the downriver race from Salida to Cotopaxi, a grueling event that is the marathon of boat races. This year, Geoff Calhoun, 22, of Bethesda, Md., finished the race in first place, executing an Eskimo roll as he zipped under the Cotopaxi bridge. It was his third title in the downriver event, but his fastest time at 2 hours, 6 minutes and 6 seconds. In second place was FIBArk Commodore Gary Lacy, 52, with a time of 2 hours, 8 minutes and 32 seconds. Lacy knows what it's like to win, having grabbed six first-place finishes in his heyday.

"colorado water"
8:27:34 AM     


Internet and politics

Pew Internet: "Fully 46% of all Americans have used the internet, email or cell phone text messaging to get news about the campaign, share their views and mobilize others. Further, the proportion of Americans going online on a typical day at the tail end of the primary season to get political news or information has more than doubled since a comparable point in the 2004 race -- from 8% of all adults in spring 2004 to 17% of all adults in spring 2008. These are among the highlights of a new national survey of 2,251 American adults by the Pew Internet & American Life Project between April 8 and May 11."

Thanks to beSpacific for the link.

"2008 pres"
8:21:59 AM     


War on drugs

NYT: "The Florida report analyzed 168,900 deaths statewide. Cocaine, heroin and all methamphetamines caused 989 deaths, it found, while legal opioids -- strong painkillers in brand-name drugs like Vicodin and OxyContin -- caused 2,328. Drugs with benzodiazepine, mainly depressants like Valium and Xanax, led to 743 deaths. Alcohol was the most commonly occurring drug, appearing in the bodies of 4,179 of the dead and judged the cause of death of 466 -- fewer than cocaine (843) but more than methamphetamine (25) and marijuana (0)."

Thanks to Andrew Sullivan for the link.

"2008 pres"
8:09:16 AM     


? for President?

Political Wire: "A new Mason-Dixon poll in Nevada finds Sen. John McCain edging Sen. Barack Obama in Nevada, 44% to 42% with 14% undecided."

Andrew Sullivan: "What Obama Brings: If you had to sum it up, it would be an ability to listen - genuinely listen - to the best arguments of his opponents"

Cass R. Sunstein (via Open University): "The University of Chicago Law School is by far the most conservative of the great American law schools. It helped to provide the academic foundations for many positions of the Reagan administration. But at the University of Chicago, Obama is liked and admired by Republicans and Democrats alike. Some of the local Reagan enthusiasts are Obama supporters. Why? It doesn't hurt that he's a great guy, with a personal touch and a lot of warmth. It certainly helps that he is exceptionally able. But niceness and ability are only a small part of the story. Obama also has a genuinely independent mind, he's a terrific listener and he goes wherever reason takes him."

"2008 pres"
8:04:44 AM   
  


Olney Springs: Boil order
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From The LaJunta Tribune-Democrat: "Olney Springs residents must boil their water throughout Monday. According to town officials, there is low chlorine in the water due to a malfunction in the mechanical system used to chlorinate the town's well water. Officials expect the problem to be fixed by 5 p.m. Monday."

"colorado water"
7:56:07 AM     


Northern Integrated Supply Project
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Stream flow on the Poudre River from the proposed Glade Reservoir through Fort Collins downstream to the South Platte River is at the heart of the controversy over building the Northern Integrated Supply Project. Is there enough water in the river to fill Glade and keep the Poudre flowing? Here's some background from The Fort Collins Coloradoan. From the article:

The river's flow through the city is of keen interest to water managers, recreation enthusiasts and environmentalists alike. It's one of the major issues surrounding Northern Water's proposal to build Glade Reservoir as part of the Northern Integrated Supply Project, or NISP. It's bound to be brought up repeatedly during a series of public hearings scheduled this week in Fort Collins and Greeley to take comment on the draft Environmental Impact Statement, or EIS, on the massive project issued by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

Opponents of NISP say the river is already overburdened with its water taken for municipal and agricultural uses. Decreasing flows further would damage the river's ecosystem and hinder city efforts to capitalize on the Poudre as an economic driver, said Mark Easter of the Save the Poudre Coalition. "This is the time when the river should be restored and its flows enhanced," he said. "It shouldn't be further degraded."

Supporters say the water that would be supplied by NISP is needed to meet anticipated growth in the 15 regional municipalities and water districts that would foot the bill for the $426 million project. While draws from the Poudre to fill Glade would certainly lower downstream flows, the effects can be balanced out through a variety of measures, [Brian Werner, spokesman for the Northern Colorado Water Conservancy District] said. "We've always said there are going to be impacts," he said. "And they can be mitigated."

Increasing the river's flow or even maintaining a year-round minimal flow is not a simple matter. The Poudre has been a working river since 1860 when early settlers tapped its water to irrigate farmland. Disputes over its water played a role in crafting the state's system for establishing water rights and appropriations...

Water rights may be sold and traded and their seniority kept intact. A state court system is dedicated to adjudicating claims and establishing rights. Keeping more water in the Poudre would require dedicating a right to that purpose, a notion being explored by officials and river advocates, said Gary Wockner, a member of the Fort Collins Water Board...

Fort Collins has senior water rights it uses for drought protection that could be used to maintain the river's flow through the city, Wockner said. Other cities, including Boulder and Golden, have worked through the in-stream program of the Colorado Water Conservation Board to maintain in-stream flow rights. Fort Collins, which donated a small amount of water to the program to protect a section of stream that flows into the Poudre, could do the same, Wockner said. The city is "kicking around ideas" on how to get more water in the Poudre through town, said Dennis Bode, water resources manager. But using a right identified for drought protection may not fit with the city's big-picture water needs. "It kind of defeats the purpose of a reservoir and storage if you just let it run through," Bode said...

As high as the river is currently, the high-water rights for drawing into Glade would not be in effect and are not likely to kick in this year, Werner said. The reservoir would draw some water every month of the year through exchanges with two irrigation companies that would end up getting water from Galeton Reservoir, which through NISP would be built northeast of Greeley. The Poudre's flow through Fort Collins would be reduced 25 percent to 71 percent based on monthly averages, according to the draft EIS. A potential way to enhance the river's flow could be found through a concept called "compensatory environmental storage," said Neil Grigg, professor of mechanical engineering at Colorado State University and former director of the Water Resource Center. Through the program, participants in NISP might provide storage space to Fort Collins and other entities in Glade for later release that would boost the river's environmental flows, Grigg said. Consistent flows would strengthen the river's ecosystem and help Fort Collins' economic goals, he said. Such a program would require the cooperation of entities drawing from the river and coordination of those draws. "This is a very complex issue that would require detailed agreements and a lot of coordination among the various entities," he said. "But I see it as a pro-active approach."

Evans has signed on to NISP. Here's a report from The Greeley Tribune. From the article:

Evans is growing up. With several development projects in the works -- following in the path of already furious growth in past years -- the town is among the fastest growing communities in northern Colorado. Yet in the end, according to Mayor Lyle Achziger, all that carefully planned growth boils down to one important thing: water. That is where the Northern Integrated Supply Project comes in. "We have an opportunity here to take water that we already have, that we already have rights to, and store it in one of -- what I feel -- is the more better thought-out plans for a reservoir," Achziger said. "To not do that, I think, would be a travesty to the area." A controversial and costly project, the project is being hailed as either the much-needed answer to water supply concerns for 15 municipalities and water districts in northern Colorado or the death of the Poudre River -- depending on the source...

The water that Evans holds rights to are in the form of junior water rights -- water that is only available during years of high spring run off, according to Brian Werner, spokesperson for the Northern Colorado Water Conservancy District. He said under these conditions, water would be available every 4 of 10 years -- still a very important slice of the pie, and something that often gets lost in translation. "There's a lot of small communities that stand to benefit from this and there's a lot of small communities that maybe don't have many other resources by which to get water," Achziger said...

"If they conserve all the water they can and they find a way to work with farmers, they will get all the water they need and they don't have to drain the Poudre River to get it," said [Gary Wockner spokesman for Save the Poudre]. Yet, Achziger said the town already has many conservation efforts underway and that conserving water alone would not be a solution -- pointing to Northern Colorado Water Conservancy District's estimate that such efforts would only ease a city's water use by 10-15 percent...

Should a "No Action" ruling be made by the Army Corps of Engineers, which will make the final decision on the future of the project, it is estimated that 25,000 acres of agricultural land will dry up as water is used for the municipalities, according to the Northern Colorado Water Conservancy District. While stopping short of saying Evans would definitely be forced to buy more of this water should such a ruling be made, Achziger said it is a very real possibility. Werner said it was inevitable. For Achziger, who grew up in agricultural country, such a thing would be painful to watch. "What hasn't been dried up certainly has the potential," Achziger said. "Because as the cities that have bought those water rights up -- as they have a demand to actually use that water, I mean its anybody's guess as to how many of those farms will be totally dried up."[...]

To attend the forums [to discuss the Corps of Engineers environmental impact statement]:

* Open house at 4 p.m.; forum at 6 p.m. on Monday at the Hilton Hotel, 425 W. Prospect Dr. in Fort Collins

* Open house at 4 p.m.; forum at 6 p.m. on Tuesday at the Fort Collins Senior Center, 1200 Raintree Drive in Fort Collins

* Open house at 6 p.m.; forum at 7 p.m. on Thursday at the University Center, 20th Street and 10th Avenue in Greeley

More Coyote Gulch coverage here and here.

"colorado water"
7:27:20 AM     



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